A Week of Book Events!

This past week has been an amazing one with getting to attend YALLWEST, and then having author events hosted by The King’s English Bookshop three consecutive night in a row!

We were lucky enough to get to see Rachel Cohn on Tuesday, Sarah J. Maas on Wednesday, and Jennifer E. Smith on Thursday! Meeting all three of these authors and listening to them discuss their books was such a neat experience, and I’m so glad that we got to share it with some of our YA and Wine book club members!

Rachel Cohn

Rachel was so kind, and getting to listen to her speak about her latest novel Kill All Happies was really interesting. Here are a few fun facts about Rachel and her latest novel!

Rachel is very intelligent and graduated at the age of just 16, so her books really explore the high school life that she didn’t get to experience.

Rachel is currently working on her own novel as well as another novel with David Levithan that sounds really interesting.

If you’ve read Kill All Happies, you know that there is a pretty awful character in this book. Rachel said that she wanted to include a villain in this story that really had no redeeming qualities. Think Miss Trunchbull in Matilda.

About Kill All Happies

This is it. Graduation. And Vic Navarro is throwing the most epic party Rancho Soldado has ever seen. She’s going to pull off the most memorable good-bye ever for her best friends, give Happies—the kitschy restaurant that is her desert town’s claim to fame—a proper send-off into bankruptcy, and oh yes, hook up with her delicious crush, Jake Zavala-Kim. She only needs to keep the whole thing a secret so that her archnemesis, Miss Ann Thrope, Rancho Soldado’s nightmare Town Councilwoman and high school Economics teacher, doesn’t get Vic tossed in jail.

With the music thumping, alcohol flowing, bodies mashing, and Thrope nowhere to be seen, Vic’s party is a raging success. That is, until Happies fans start arriving in droves to say good-bye, and storm the deserted theme park behind the restaurant. Suddenly what was a small graduation bash is more like Coachella on steroids with a side of RASmatazz pie. The night is so not going as planned. And maybe that’s the best plan of all.

Sarah J. Maas

Sarah J. Maas is kind of the reason this blog exists. I discovered The King’s English Bookshop when we attended her signing for Queen of Shadows, which is how I started going to so many book events, and how we then started the YA and Wine book club. After seeing how much fun and how successful the book club was, I knew I had to do a blog about it!

So seeing Sarah is always special to me, and I’m of course a huge fan of her books. At the event she was in conversation with Christina Hobbs, one half of writing duo Christina Lauren. Here’s a few highlights from their conversation.

As you probably know, ACOWAR wraps up Rhysand and Feyre’s story, but this isn’t the end of the ACOTAR world. We can expect three more installments in this series to be released.

The next book in the ACOWAR series will be from the perspective of someone who survives ACOWAR.

The next book in the Throne of Glass series, Tower of Dawn, comes out in September and includes vital information for you to read prior to reading the final book in the ToG series.

Tower of Dawn was planned to be a novella, but when Sarah wrote 20,000 words in one day and realized she wasn’t even close to finished it was turned into a full novel instead and should now be considered ToG 6.

About A Court of Wings and Ruin

Looming war threatens all Feyre holds dear in the third volume of the #1 New York Times bestselling A Court of Thorns and Rosesseries.

Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin’s maneuverings and the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit-and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.

As war bears down upon them all, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords-and hunt for allies in unexpected places.

In this thrilling third book in the #1 New York Times bestselling series from Sarah J. Maas, the earth will be painted red as mighty armies grapple for power over the one thing that could destroy them all.

Jennifer E. Smith

Jennifer is just one of the most lovely and genuine people that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. I ADORE her books, so meeting her was so exciting, and I cannot wait to read Windfall later this month.

Jennifer was in conversation with our local author, Sara Zarr, who is an incredible YA contemporary author as well. Here are a few highlights from their conversation:

Jennifer worked in publishing as an editor before becoming a published author.

Windfall is her eighth published novel.

Jennifer is a truly inspirational human being. She is a big believer in random acts of kindness and actively participates with various charities.

She has another YA contemporary in the works, and I for one cannot WAIT to learn more about it!

About Windfall

Let luck find you.
Alice doesn’t believe in luck—at least, not the good kind. But she does believe in love, and for some time now, she’s been pining for her best friend, Teddy. On his eighteenth birthday—just when it seems they might be on the brink of something—she buys him a lottery ticket on a lark. To their astonishment, he wins $140 million, and in an instant, everything changes.

At first, it seems like a dream come true, especially since the two of them are no strangers to misfortune. As a kid, Alice won the worst kind of lottery possible when her parents died just over a year apart from each other. And Teddy’s father abandoned his family not long after that, leaving them to grapple with his gambling debts. Through it all, Teddy and Alice have leaned on each other. But now, as they negotiate the ripple effects of Teddy’s newfound wealth, a gulf opens between them. And soon, the money starts to feel like more of a curse than a windfall.

As they try to find their way back to each other, Alice learns more about herself than she ever could have imagined…and about the unexpected ways in which luck and love sometimes intersect.

Have you met any of these three incredible authors? Have you read these books just yet? If so, what did you think?

I have heard of all three authors but haven’t read any of their books. I’m more likely to read Rachel Cohn and Jennifer E. Smith’s books. I’ve seen a lot of things about Sara J. Maas’ books and things that she hasn’t done that make me question whether or not I want to read them.

We do get super spoiled here, which is kind of random since we’re in UT not Cali or NYC, but I’ll take it! It definitely softened the blow of having YALLWEST be over. I’m so glad I got to meet all of you in person! <3<3<3

Wow, you weren’t kidding when you said you ladies had a lot of book events all in the same time! :O Very nice wrapup for each of them, and I love your facts for them! I always feel like I’m getting some major inside info. XD Wonderful post as usual!

It was a crazy and awesome week! I’m glad you enjoyed the wrap-ups. I always feel like I’m bragging when I do those posts, so I feel kind of bad. But it’s part of my book life, and I want that on my blog. IDK.

Oh I didn’t know all that about ToG and ACOWAR! That’s so cool *_* So happy Chaol’s novella is going to be a full novel OMG ❤ ❤ ❤ (fangirling over here like mad!!)
I feel like I've been living under a rock lately hahaha Thankfully, I can always count on you and all the other wonderful bloggers to keep me up to date!
Great post, Krysti! ^^ Glad to know you guys had so much fun once again! And aaww I didn't know about that connection between your book club's origin and Sarah! That's honestly so sweet ❤

Oh, yay!!! So glad to share the good news with someone. 🙂 It is crazy how something can change your life so unexpectedly. I will love Sara J. Maas for that forever no matter what. Nothing gets past the book blogging community. That is for sure! Thanks so much, Sophie!

So many book events! I’m just soooo jealous. It must have been amazing seeing Sarah J Maas again. I am FINALLY about to pick up Throne of Glass! We are reading it for a book club this month. I’m stoked. I’ve heard so many great things!

Rachel Cohn and Jennifer E Smith are both new authors to me. Thanks for attending their events, if only to help me learn about new authors. I can’t wait to hear all about YALLWEST! ❤

It was really neat to see Sarah J. Maas again and just to think about what a fun journey I’ve been on since the last time I met her. Can’t wait to hear your thoughts on ToG. I read that book at a time when I really needed to read that book. You know the feeling. 🙂 So it meant a lot to me. I love Rachel’s books with David Levithan. I haven’t read her others, and I also adore Jennifer E. Smith’s books, so it was a really exciting week And thank you, Jackie! 🙂